I’m confused! If HIO is all about free speech, is that only when they agree with the speaker. Timmy Thomas as much as I disagree with him is allowed to say what he wants to say as long as it does not hurting anyone. And what he said isn’t hurting anyone. He’s expressing his belief that some groups don’t agree with including but not limited to the gay rights group. When the Gay rights group try to supress Chic-Fil-A and Tim Thomas they’ve lost their own battle of freedom of speech but they just don’t get it.
Go HABS Go

———————————————————————–This isn’t “Billionaires vs. Millionaires.” Only a willfully uninformed fool would apply that sloppy shorthand designation to this disgraceful power grab crafted by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities in North America aimed against professional athletes.–Larry Brooks of the New York Post

…I don’t know if I should be on that list, but thank you for Your respect
…regarding Your list and others not on Your list, I think They bring Their very unique personalities and substance into what, for Me, is a special community of Habs Fans
…I, personally, don’t visit other sites except for HIO, Gazette’s (Sports) and TSN …to read on My Habs and Als (TSN)
…HIO is a special community I truly appreciate to share, and I hate to rate one over the other in a ranking format, because You all ‘as a collective’ are vibrant and ‘family’ to Me in a certain way
…as far as truly great writing skill and substance, though I do not always agree with Their every opinion, Normand (uCE) and Ben Kerr (Commandant) certainly should be at the top of most lists
…but, then again, I am a Fan of The Dude too … 🙂

I’d have to strenuously, bitterly object to the rankings, one finalist is pegged much much too low on the ladder, needs to move up one spot for the rankings to make any sense at all.

Also, where’s Chris?

And where would HIO be without HardHabits and Timo?

Personally, I’d like HIO to have some kind of alert system so that I never miss a post by John Bellyfull.

———————————————————————–This isn’t “Billionaires vs. Millionaires.” Only a willfully uninformed fool would apply that sloppy shorthand designation to this disgraceful power grab crafted by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities in North America aimed against professional athletes.–Larry Brooks of the New York Post

…the above is not My list, I only copy/pasted EOHF’s list
…like I said SD, I look at it like a collective, 10 is much too short a list …because I like You all for what is ‘unique’ about Yourselves
…the 2 or 3 not participating at all, or enough, that I miss most are JT, Bugs and Robert Lefevre

IMHO, not so much universally respected, but the posters I feel are the best are:

Smartdog: his Gomez stuff cracks me up, and his comments are often spot on.

Timo: I myself call a spade a spade, and Timo does that too. Many feel he is a negative Nelly, but not me, as I feel a lot of his comments, while sometimes negative, are to the point and accurate. (And also hilarious!)

Un Canadien: Although often wordy in his comments, they are usually well thought out and informative and not antagonistic. (Although I do sometimes wonder, due to the length of some of them; does he work? LOL!)

Hard Habits: Again, very funny, also knowledgable; but sometimes can get on his high horse a bit, LOL!

As for some of the “old posters, many on here liked Berkshire and Bugs, but not me, and am glad they’re gone, (I think they’re gone?).

Cripes, AH, you keep ragging on me about length, you’re going to start to sound like my girlfriend.

———————————————————————–This isn’t “Billionaires vs. Millionaires.” Only a willfully uninformed fool would apply that sloppy shorthand designation to this disgraceful power grab crafted by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities in North America aimed against professional athletes.–Larry Brooks of the New York Post

I’d like to see us get our hands on Gilbert brule or my old hockey coach dean arsene he’s tough as nails solid dman or a really good friend of mine Derek grant from the sens I went to the gym with him yesterday and he’s getting into beast mode 6’2 and he’s sitting at 206 right now he’s gotten alot stronger and when I played with him he could literally stand still and dangle threw kids flying past him making everyone look stupid just some personal thoughts maybe not all stars right now but brule would b a huge help Derek is only 22 and has improved hugely every year and I see more of a difference in him this year then any and dean arsene is a solid ahl’er who would help our younger guys and maybe get a call up to be tough guy he runs hockey camps in bc every year and was my AAA coach last year bantam so you know he’s good with younger people

…well, if Boone’s purported ‘retirement’ (someOne mentioned August 1st) is due, maybe He just doesn’t ‘give a $hit’ anymore
…or, The Gazette similarly don’t ‘give a rat’s A$$’ because the site is not making revenue
…one of You ambitious hackers out there should hack HIO and write something worthwhile to read
…gender neutral and Habs-related preferred
…I mean, how much more of a summertime’ downer’ for HIO can it get than combining gay marriage and Tim Thomas ???
…and amazingly, still, resulting in 1000+ hits
…I know it’s summertime, but get Thomas’ silly face and this inappropriate gay subject matter off the site, and replace with something Hab & hetero-friendly, like Jessica Sanchez in a form-hugging Habs sweater

…You mean I have to visit a Philthydelphia Phylers fan site to get My Asian ‘suasion fix ??? …that’ll be a rainy day in the Gobi Desert 🙁
_________________________________________________________
Habitant means PASSIONATE HOCKEYhttp://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=423049

———————————————————————–This isn’t “Billionaires vs. Millionaires.” Only a willfully uninformed fool would apply that sloppy shorthand designation to this disgraceful power grab crafted by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities in North America aimed against professional athletes.–Larry Brooks of the New York Post

But still, Céline Lomez…. Circa 1971…. My first crush, before I even knew what a crush was.

———————————————————————–This isn’t “Billionaires vs. Millionaires.” Only a willfully uninformed fool would apply that sloppy shorthand designation to this disgraceful power grab crafted by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities in North America aimed against professional athletes.–Larry Brooks of the New York Post

I’ve held my tongue on this before, and I’m no spring chicken, but really the writers who post on this site shouldn’t be left to manage it alone…they’re too old. They don’t get social media. And their writing is much longer on sarcasm than it is on unique information or insight. And of course… they don’t care about what kind of crap they leave up for days.

Read about social media guys. It involves frequent changes, unique content, LISTENING to what your market wants – and trying to deliver it.

It would be great to see JT or some of the other smart (younger) bloggers get together and put a chat board up like this one. Then we’d have somewhere else to go – and more insightful articles to read than the drab garbage that passes as a new thread around here.

If I see one more posting of a “video” from circa 1970, I’m going to drive over to Boone’s house and break his wheelchair.

LOL. Boone gets a lot of heat – but he gets a lot of thanks too. I see the good and the bad, but really, I think these HIO guys don’t get social media and how this should be run. They break some really basic rules of create a good blog and it’s only because they have no real competition that they get away with it. That competition won’t come from another newspaper trying to figure out how all this works.

You have to wonder how Boone is feeling about all of this right about now? August begins next week. And as for HIO, it is not perfect but show me an better NHL team oriented web site and I’ll gripe with you.

Well, then give us some ideas about how it might become more uptodate. Personally I like the variety of personalities that make up this site and all their contributions. That includes Mike Boone on HIO and in his weekly man about town Gazette articles.

Richard R
Price is an oyster. Unfortunately not all oysters produce pearls.

Relatively harsh criticism of the boys who bring us HIO, SmartDog. I think they do good work in providing content. It’s just that right now it’s summer vacation time, the reporters and writers might be at the beach or on the golf course, which is great and well-deserved. It’s no different than the other sites I read. La Presse has been dead for hockey news and columnists for weeks now, I’ve had to break down and look at the Journal de Montréal, and they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to news too (but don’t they always).

Mike Boone might be cashing in on some OT and sick days owed by the Gazette, he’s setting up for the next stage of his life. We should applaud him for his efforts, since this is his brainchild, rather than kick him on his way to a well-earned retirement from this job and on to new challenges.

The technology aspect of the site, how poorly it is designed and how user friendly it isn’t is something the Gazette can fix with a modest investment, which I would think they’d be all about if they’re going the way all newspapers are going, which means shifting from a ‘dead trees’ version to a much more multimedia electronic platform.

———————————————————————–This isn’t “Billionaires vs. Millionaires.” Only a willfully uninformed fool would apply that sloppy shorthand designation to this disgraceful power grab crafted by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities in North America aimed against professional athletes.–Larry Brooks of the New York Post

The habs scored fewer goals last year than the previous 2 yet finished 19th in overall goals for…the previous 2 years they were around 23rd…the key for success this year will be goaltending,d and special teams..the lineup the habs have will again be in the bottom half in goal scoring…the team will have to win many one goal games like it did the previous 2 years and despite being 23rd in goal scoring made the playoffs both years…

NHLPA accepts 50/50 because the lesser paid players be freaking out when the season starts and no paycheques are coming in.
This “speeding up” of players to UFA is a non-starter. It’s tough enough to develop players to give a team 3 or 4 seasons before they’re gone because of cap issues. Shortening that time period will almost make the draft and entry level contracts worthless.

trini, I don’t think the NHLPA will bargain away 7% (they’re currently taking 57%, not 54% as you wrote) of its current slice of the pie (more like 9% with the redefined HRR the owners are proposing) in exchange for contract details like those. Essentially, more freedom for entry level players would just mean they’d make a bigger portion of the smaller slice of the pie at the expense of veteran players. The membership overall would see no benefit, just a shuffling of dollars from some members to others, and a reduction in their total take. It’s been calculated that the owners’ current proposal amounts to another 20% rollback to the players’ wages, all of them, so fiddling with entry-level criteria and conditions doesn’t really provide any compensation for that.

If the players get hammered down to 50%, they’re going to fight hard first, but may yield in return for better working conditions, like the NFLPA did, with reduced Off-season Training sessions, less live tackling and fewer padded practices in season, and by holding firm on their refusal of the owners’ proposal to go to 18 games a season. So I could see the players accepting less revenue but in return demanding to ‘work less’ and better and safer working conditions. For example, the subject of bad ice has been brought up. Things like mandatory morning skates on the day of games or after travelling may be things the players negotiate in their favour.

In the current climate, where monopolists and robber barons have control of the media and have convinced the population that the economy is in crisis and the only way out is through sacrifices by the workforce in trifling areas like their pensions and wages and job security, the battle may already be won by the owners, and the players can eke out a moral victory like the NFL players did by not having to go through such a crazy grind of a season.

———————————————————————–This isn’t “Billionaires vs. Millionaires.” Only a willfully uninformed fool would apply that sloppy shorthand designation to this disgraceful power grab crafted by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities in North America aimed against professional athletes.–Larry Brooks of the New York Post

Armstrong is no longer a third liner!!!
We need a top six and Bourque shifts down to third, or Bourque stays on the second line to start the year and we need a good third line winger. We actually need to good third liners if LL cannot make the jump at some point during the season.
Armstrong is a long shot gamble. He was brought in as such, for 1 mill. He could surprise but it´s likelier he won´t than he will.

So strange that AK has not signed anywhere. I am curious as to why but I don´t think we will ever know. He never had a problem in Mtl, made one error of judgement letting himself be led on by that rascal Radulov, and all of a sudden nobody wants him. I could understand the American moralising teams taking a pass, but we know AK is not a bad egg. Strange. A proven twenty goal scorer, if you just let him play, not a liability defensively, and a big body. Can be had for probably close to half of what he is worth. Go figure.
I´m willing to believe Mtl knows something we don´t. MB comes across as a good Hockey guy. But, if they aren´t bringing him back just because they want to put their “stamp” on the team, I would find that to be a misguided reason. That would be a decision based on ego and pride.

Too many seasons of Waiting for Andrei. He’d rather drink during the playoffs than win. Every NHL team picked up on that. He will sign at a greatly reduced rate in the KHL.
Armstrong is for the 3rd line and if he shows he can handle spot 2nd line duty, he’ll get it. Leblanc needs more time in the AHL. He can go there and hopefully dominate for a season before being brought up.

MB will put his stamp on the team, but not before he can have HIS player personnel team evaluate everybody.

If the only consideration were talent then it is simple.. bring back AK. But although AK is a proven 20 goal scorer.. those 20 goals are produced against a backdrop of prolonged periods of ineffectiveness and lack of drive (notice I did not say lazy) and also a disinterest in being a ‘go to player’. Maybe the same drawbacks attributed to Semin?

I´ve never understood that logic. Why is it that players who score in bunches are not as desirable as players who score at a consistent rate the whole season? There are more household name players than you think who are actually streaky scorers.
At the end of the season, twenty-twenty five goals is twenty-twenty-five goals and are equally as valuable…unless the player scores a big proportion of them in blowouts.

I guess you didn’t hear Dudley when he was on the team 590 in Toronto. The link was posted hear. What Dudley said was that they intend to have Prust on the 3rd line. I am not sure where that leaves Armstrong, unless they plan on using Prust on the left side.

Not one error in judgement. Do you not remember that he and his brother were haning out with the wrong crowd in the wrong places?

The posters who say that scoring 20 goals steadlily or in bunches is still 20 goals are missing one important fact. AK received time for his potential and because they did not have another potential 20 to 30 goal guy to use. Those that want to bring him back also forgot what Bergevin has said, he wants character players who will work hard “all” the time, not just when it suits them. The team first and what message does it send to the hard working players that buy in when they see AK floating around and getting ice time anyway?

Since P.K hasnt re-signed and Gomez has not resigned, and since we are on the topic of GAY marriages and since an invitation to some GAY marriages are more highly anticipated by the 20yr old heterosexual male than others… see where I am going with this? No…… well true story.

I attended a very underground lesbian union once where the traditional African custom called ‘partaking of spices’ was part of the evening.

One of the four spices on the altar was cayenne pepper which represents passion. Being a very open-minden liberal, I accepted each and every invitation to accompany any ‘passionately inclined’ lesbian friend of the bride, (or was it friend of the groom) up to the altar to be finger fed a pinch of cayenne pepper.

There is, of course, more to this story. Let’s just say that ‘in the end’ I learnt a lesson.

Hey you are the chemist, chemic… Sorry couldnt help it. Think one spice had to deal with honesty etc and others were for those strong ‘viceless’ aspects of life. I stayed close to the cayenne line.. for some stupid reason.

Gomez averaged 48-pts a season till he came to Montreal. what Happened? my answer. was given a big contract had nothing to prove anymore. set for life. it would be like anyone of us if we won the 649 if we still wanted to work go to work and work at our own pace. so they get rid of ya your set for life. case closed….

In New York, Gomez had Jagr, Shanahan, Antropov, Naslund and Drury to pass to.
In Jersey he had Parise, Elias, Langenbrunner.

Give Gomez someone to pass to and I bet he gets more assists. But that’s true of any passer, and we are paying ours 7.3 million.
Look how well he did with MaxPac on his wing. But DD has shown he can do the same.

We should all go to L’Oratoire Saint-Joseph and pray Doan signs anywhere but Phoenix. If he does, they will be a little less than $10 million under the salary cap floor with nobody left to sign and nobody left to overpay.

They might come a begging for a $7,357,143 cap hit that’s only gonna cost them $5,500,000 of salary. Throw in Weber and a 4th and take back some lousy 25- 50 contract they have. God knows they need the money.

Sarah Palin might even show up to watch a fellow Alaskan. Alaskans stay together. She could even get Sheriff Joe. Phoenix sounds better than Hamilton or Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, but not as nice as SC Bern

The hate, the hate, oh the hate….never a good word. I have witnessed 12 Stanley cups won by Montreal.

Phoenix will sign Doan once they assure him they are not moving to Quebec or Saskatoon, or Seatle. Doan can finish his career on the golf course, in the nice weather, with no stress. Why would he come to Montreal. If he starts to falter he could be the new whipping boy.

This video has it all: parents who push/accommodate their kids’ famewhore tendencies, lipstick on an 11 year-old girl, the spawn of the collision between the American Idol culture and karaoke, Texas-style nepotism (obviously).

And an audience shuffles nervously, wondering if everyone else is in on the joke: “Didn’t I see this on The Simpsons once?”

———————————————————————–This isn’t “Billionaires vs. Millionaires.” Only a willfully uninformed fool would apply that sloppy shorthand designation to this disgraceful power grab crafted by some of the wealthiest individuals and corporate entities in North America aimed against professional athletes.–Larry Brooks of the New York Post

I watched the entire thing Lizardking… excruciatingly. But I am glad I did. If you go to the 1:55 to 1:58 mark the camera pans along the kids on the field and there are two very ‘natural and ordinary’ looking little girls who look at the camera so disarmingly unpretentious that you say “thank heaven for little girls” and hope they grow up just are they seem so that they may save the world from its outrageous fringe.

1. CBA negations are still underway. players hangout poolside while awaiting proposals. notables at lundquist pool are: hartnell and B.richards playing badminton. subban, spezza and karlson are playing monkey in the middle. a heated game of water polo between phil kessel, del zotto, lupul, gionta turns sour when someone pees in the pool.

Save your breath. Even serious suggestions don’t take with the HIO writers.

These guys THINK they know how social media works because they can send a tweet. But they don’t get it.

They may just be too old to understand the listening part. (Or too lazy to bother.)

Honestly, it’s the fans here that make this an interesting place – not so much the writers. Little of what’s posted here has any imagination or uniqueness. You’d think being beat reporters (in English, which all the players speak) in this city they would have great access to all kinds of cool info about the players. Doesn’t seem that they do.

The only reason I still come here is that there’s no competing board of Habs fans. That will change…in this industry competitors are always around the corner.
————————————-
Listen to the Smart Dog. He knows his poop!

I think there are some good viewpoints expressed here but yes it isn’t JT’s or Etchingham’s blogs by a long shot. The comments are great though, the opinions diverse, the feathers ruffled, and I find it a great spot to find a link posted to breaking Canadiens news.

Had a dream last night: I was at the Memorial Centre to watch a Peterborough Petes alumni game in what was billed as the Battle of the Dbags. Team Pronger vs Team Thornton. Thornton’s team won and he taunted Pronger relentlessly. CP was not amused but I was.

In other news, nothing happened. At all. Even with that being the case, can we please get a new thread or at least a new picture of perhaps a different Bruin to piss us off?

P.S. does anyone know how I can see my older comments? They don´t pop up on my profile like they used to and they are incredibly hard to find if one has to keep scrolling after many people have posted….

I just can’t understand why some people want to stop the Gays from getting married.Its none of their friggin business!I’m also fine with them adopting orphan kids. This is Canada and its 2012 for pete”s sake.

I would say the team is set now before going to training camp and you will see either Gomez or Eller playing center on the 3rd line. if it is Gomez. you’ll see Eller playing the L/W position. he would be much better than Moen or Gomez there. we’ll have a fairly rough 4th line with Moen, White, Prust I think they’ll take care of business.

MB knows we’re not ready to challenge for a stanley cup. why waste money. go with what we have and the young guys can develop in Hamilton. maybe we’ll be good enough to sneak in the playoffs. this team is not looking too bad if we can avoid injuries. I’m sure like every other team we’ll have our share and that’s where the young guys from Hamilton will get a chance to prove themselves….

Is there any other fourth liner in the NHL making even close to what Prust is making?
Eller should stay at centre. There is no room for Gomez. Hopefully LL is on the wing by game 30-35. It´s kind of sad the organization continues to see Moen as a third liner when he is just a very good fourth liner and PK guy but if there are no other moves it looks like he will start on the third line with Prust, Nokkia, and either White or Armstrong on the fourth line. If Armstrong proves everyone wrong in training camp I can see him on the third line, but I wouldn´t gamble on that.

prust brings much more than goal scoring to the team. and at 2.5 theres not much to complain about. he will beat the snot out of anyone who tries to mess with our boys and that alone is worth its weight in gold.

LL should be in Hamilton this season, injuries pending. i dont think he’s got enough in the tank for a full season and we dont really need him.

armstrong is better than white and will make an interesting bottom 6 guy. moen is playing above his head if he’s used as a top 6.

bottom line is we are short a top 6 forward and will have to wait and see what happens at camp in a few weeks.

Skip training camp. No longer necessary line up is set. It was nice Gomer, but we have decided to put you in the press box. Eller you are the center, wasn’t that easy, just put your name in.

Not going to bother with anything else, there would be no surprises anyway. Last place is assured because last year guaranteed that.

Markov will not start, his knew was hurt LAST YEAR so that settles that. Gionta tore his muscle LAST YEAR so he will sit this year.

Last year means everything, training camp means nothing. Make out the lineup now, surprises would only complicate things. Gomez stay in Alaska, we will pay you and try to trade you. You are done.

Boy managing a team is easy just move the pieces around without a care in the world. Perhaps, Montreal should draft that way, just pick a name, no sense watching him play, just check the HO boards and pick by popularity.

My compliments to the IOC for the soft-porn sport of women’s beach volleyball.

Tall, lean (many of whom are blonde) women in bikini’s hugging and kissing after a point and generally rolling in the sand is to be admired.

Highlights include the close up shots of the players’ bikini bottoms as they signal to their teammates with their fingers. those bikini bottoms do tend to ride inward.

And the sand- it gets EVERYWHERE. If the Olympics runs on volunteers I would like to volunteer my services as a bikini sand removal technician. I would think it would require a vacuum and I could supply my own crevice tool

______________________________________________________
“It’s just an opinion – I could be wrong”

HIO needs to learn something from TSN. They had this story, but did not allow comments, since , as we can see, its a complete waste of time.

How bout you put up another story or just a picture of chara with a dart board around him, thats more of a useful story then this trash.

Hell, im surprised Boone hasnt posted an article about the Colorodo shootings, since, techinally, thats much more important then this piece of shit of a person who hides behind his facebook to make statments he would never make in person, or threaten to shutdown questions in a media scrum if someone even tries to question his opinion.

Can HIO move on and take this annoying mug of a face off our front page.

I think it says a lot about us HIO users. Do not think that TSN would have been able to control the comments. There are a few nutcases that are there only for trouble.

I agree that TT`s face is disturbing and that we need to talk about something else but congrats to all for keeping this debate clean and open. It does have something sports related since TT seems to have lost a few marbles in the last year. Hey ! It`s free speech i know but never heard about a guy wanting a year off at this age…Do not think we will see him back in the NHL.

Many seem to making this debate out to be about free speech which is a complete red herring. The controversy is about denying a minority group basic human rights. No one has problem Tim Thomas practicing his definition of marriage. The controversy is those religious people who want to deny the gay community their right to marriage.

Let’s ask some basic questions to see if you think TT’s opinions are fair from a human rights perspective. Let’s assume you have two homosexuals who have been in a long-term, committed relationship where they love each other, live together, raise children, and share all assets:

1. If one is sick and dying in intensive care, should the partner have the right to visit them in the hospital, which is restricted to immediate family only? Should the dying person have a right to say good-bye to the person they shared their life with?

2. Should the partner have access to employer benefits given to heterosexual couples?

3. Should the partner have the right to be recognized as a parent to your partner’s child through adoption?

4. If the relationship terminates, should each person’s rights be protected by law through divorce proceedings and family law?

Tim Thomas would answer no to these four questions. THAT is the controversy.

Hey Commandant,
I see you sent a link of the Blackhawks prospects. I was hoping to see more information about Kyle Beach. Do you know what is the word on him. Is he still highly thought of in the Hawks organization. I would really like to see Montreal get this guy and give him a shot. I really think he would add some nastiness to the team and he is a hothead on the ice. What do you think. Is he going to make the NHL.

you may not like it but get use to it Gomez will be around for this year and maybe another. I doubt very much Molson’s is gonna send Gomez to Hamilton and pay him $7,357,143 or have him in the press box. Gomez is the reason MB is not making a move for a left winger. they’re stuck with him like it or not. as for a trade. if they want nothing or very little in return some team may fall for it.

Totally agree with you. In my wildest dream with a decent season i see Gomez going towards the end of the season when his deal will have a bit more than a year left. Many teams will be ready to take the gamble since the risk will be minimum.

Just do not understand how people can even think that Molson would throw his money down the drain or in Hamilton since now with the youngsters we have a middle term target. Short term we deal with what we have and hope for the best injury wise and that underachievers will wake up. With the atmosphere around the team being so different, i think it is a reasonable challenge. With that in mind Gomez is not the only one who has to step up or else…

I agree with you that it is a difficult issue for Molson. The $7.5m is the Cap hit.. actual salary this coming season is $5.5m, then $4.5m next. As Gomer finished the season on injured reserve (concussion), no decision on his future can be made until he is deemed healthy by medical staff at training camp.

This year the hit would be 5.3 million. If the trade him at trade deadline and his next year is worth 4.3 million, they could take back 2 million to encourage a deal. 2.3 million for a team would not be so bad.

For this to happen Gomez has to start producing points….Eller, Leblanc have to continue to improve. Then a pick up at trade deadline would make some sense.

Let’s take a hypothetical situation.Gomez plays the 7-8 pre season games and finds himself with the grand total of 1 assist and is -4.He hasn’t changed his style of play,still predictable,plays soft,doesn’t go to the net and throws his wingers offside when he slows down at the opposition blueline.Do you dress him for game one of the regular season.Can his fate not be determined in the preseason?and Eller is a natural center and should stay there,don’t mess with a good thing,Eller has the potential to be one of the top 2-way 3rd line centers in the NHL..and perhaps even 2nd line someday.

Then you could say realistically that Gomez is no longer a part of Montreal plans moving forward, he could be delt, sent to Hamilton, or whatever might be appropriate. Eller has effectively played well enough to remove Gomez.

I think its quite funny how people keep coming back to AK as the “solution”.
I wouldn’t touch him.
It took the Habs too long to figure out what was wrong with AK to begin with, and now the rest of the league has figured him out.

He is a selfish player.

He cares when he wants to care. He plays when he wants to play. He hits when he wants to hit. He skates when he wants to skate.
The “room” understands this and I believe he is not respected, neither by his coaches, nor by his teammates.

He can not be a good “fit” for Bergevin because our GM has gone on the record as stating – thankfully and correctly – that selfish players are no longer welcome in our lineup.
I would be shocked if we signed him and I think it would be a terrible mistake.
We have a chance to build a team that wins “together”, let’s not get blinded by talent that lacks commitment.

Ya it’s just too bad about Kostitsyn. I mean we don’t know exactly what goes though his head while watching from home but if all the reports are correct and the analysis from reporters of him not being completely dedicated are true, then ya, stay away from him.

He looked like he was going to develop into a consistent 30-goal-scorer back 4-5 yeas ago when he was playing with Kovalev and Plekanec. He looked charged up and ready to make a name for himself.

Maybe he’d light it up if he played with the Sedins or Zetterberg but nothing would change if he came back to the Habs.

Kostitsyn looks like he could dominate games by using his size and skill but he just doesn’t seem interested or doesn’t have the ability to kick it up a notch.

Agree with you Mr. Lopaz, he would make Montreal better in the short term though. 2 years would work, but 3-4 years is stretching it. He is on the down side of his career. Most players start their decline at around 36 years of age. Injuries, losing a step, reflexes, inability to do the things he used to do naturally.

Joe Louis is a good example, he said he fought to long. He said he could see the openings, but could not deliver the punch fast enough like he did in his prime.

I think Bergevin is interested in any solution that makes sense. However 4 years is too much. People on here are continually moaning about cap space, so that would be something that would be repeated ad nauseum.

26-27 is not too old to mature – there is no cut off age where AK can no longer develop into a better player.

Sure I’m not a huge AK fan but c’mon people, if AK were in the line up we would be a significantly better team, able to ice three lines with scoring potential; it would be more easy to put Bourque on the RW, where I think he belongs; it would be easier to try out Gio on Eller’s wing to see if possibly Eller could be a 1-2 center one day; it would be easier to justifying dumping Gomez…lots of good things can come from this.

If AK is willing to take a ‘home town discount’ on a one year contract to avoid having to go Russia or europe (and I suspect he does) then I say do it because I certainly think this team need improvment in the scoring department and I would love to see someone come in on a 1-2 year contract to fill the gap. I would love someone better than AK but really who is there??? Doan maybe but the term is scary and he may not want to come anyway!

Wonder what MT is doing these days? Is he enjoying a summer vacation or is he in the office every day, going over the videos from last season, reading the dossiers on each player, chatting them up on the phone, devising new plays, and, dare I say it, coming up with different line combinations?
Do we know where he stands on same sex marriages?
BTW, Little Jimmy says if the posts reach a 1,000 on this Tim Thomas thread he’s going to hold his breath and make his face turn blue. Which is not good cuz he has asthma.

1. True, but not in regard to “all the other teams”
2. You underestimate the Islanders’ ability to fail again.
3. Some have said AK’s a no-brainer but I think he should be a starter with the Habs at a reasonable cost.
4. Didn’t know it was my turn in the barrel.
5. Drenched sweatshirts. Nah, doesn’t work for me.

1-True on the ice but off ice will pay dividends
2-Harsh Ottawa still will be in the race .
3-How many years will it take for us to understand ? Let`s turn the page.
4-…
5-Just don`t quite understand what this sport is doing in the olympics. But then again it`s the case for so many other sports.